The individual components of a restraint system are preferably designed with the view of the other components in the restraint system, as well as the specific vehicle geometry. For example, the stiffness of an airbag cushion may be designed with view of the stiffness of a vehicle's steering column, windshield slope, and instrument panel stiffness. As such, it is very desirable during the development of a restraint system to have components which have easily modifiable engineering properties.
One integral component in some restraint systems is the lower portion of the instrument panel or knee bolster. In this regard, the knee bolster can function to provide various levels of occupant protection. The interaction of the knee bolster with an occupant as well as the displacement of the knee bolster with respect to the vehicle can help to determine the occupant kinematics.
As such, it would be desirable to have a knee bolster for use in a restraint system which has engineering properties that can be easily tuned based upon vehicle geometry, occupant loading, and occupant displacement. It also would be desirable to provide a deployable knee bolster which provides a steady state loading of an occupant's femurs. It is an object to the present invention to provide an instrument panel a highly tunable deployable knee bolster which provides steady state loading of an occupant's lower extremities during a crash event.